Royal Bitch

Who am I to judge you for the crosses you bear?

"Whoever said that loss gets easier with time was a liar. Here's what really happens: The spaces between the times you miss them grow longer. Then, when you do remember to miss them again, it's still with a stabbing pain to the heart. And you have guilt. Guilt because it's been too long since you missed them last." - Kristin O'Donnel Tubb The 13th Sign

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Chapter 25

Fiore was surprised at herself when she was on her private plane with Chuck across from her. Today was a day she'd been putting off. When they landed, Kenneth took the waiting car and drove her to the familiar green hills. Chuck had quietly been observing the entire time. Not demanding answers of her, something she was grateful for.

Clarissa Elizabeth Harrington
February 9, 1962 - October 14, 1990
Beloved Wife and Mother

Fiore stared at the headstone for a long moment before placing a bouquet of flowers on the ground. She jumped when she felt Chuck's touch, light on her shoulder.

"Your mother?" He asked looking down at the grave.

"Yes."

"She was young."

"Younger than I am now." Fiore agreed. "I was four when I lost her."

"It's hard." Chuck acknowledged.

"It was. But it made me strong too. I learned from a very young age how to handle a burden bigger than myself. I learned how to function with a hole in my chest. I learned that life was unfair from a very early age. I have a feeling we have that in common."

"What do you mean?" Chuck asked, his chin resting on Fiore's shoulder as one arm slid around her waist.

"People like us don't become the kind of people we are by life being kind to us." Fiore offered, a dark smile on her beautiful face. "My parents had a beautiful fairytale. It was just short lived. When my parents first met, my mother was 14, and my father was 16. When he first met her he thought her an insufferable priss. She was just a young girl with a crush. He dodged her for about two years. When they met again she'd gone from ugly duckling to beautiful swan.

"They married not long after she turned 18. She always wanted children. She always wanted to be a mother. They tried and failed many times. My parents had six miscarriages. My father was reluctant to try again. His heart couldn't take the grief. He hated how much it hurt my mother.

"I'm the only one she was able to deliver, and even I was early. I spent the first six months of my life in a hospital.

"My mother's health was never exemplary. She was always frail. Her body was weak, but she had this incredible spirit. She loved life and living and I think she appreciated it more because she'd always had to fight for hers." Fiore smiled a sad smile. "Beautiful but fleeting, like a butterfly. She was my father's better half. He was never the same after she died."

"Losing the love of your life can do that to a man," Chuck sighed, his arms tightening around Fiore's waist.

"Did you then?"

"I never had the girl to lose her." Chuck admitted. "But I did lose the one person I cared about most."

"Who?"